


Wizengamot Briefing WB1995-349-223-529.1

by PrettyPinkCupcake



Series: SOW Party Memoranda and related documents (Rigel Black Chronicles) [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Rigel Black Chronicles - murkybluematter
Genre: Fanfiction of Fanfiction, Gen, Harriet Potter and Archie Black disappearance, Inability of aurors to find the fugitive pair, Inspired by The Rigel Black Chronicles, Post Ruse Reveal, Set beyond Chapter 12 of Futile Facade, Wizengamot briefing to Lord Riddle, Wizengamot machinations, murkybluematter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:59:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27174868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrettyPinkCupcake/pseuds/PrettyPinkCupcake
Summary: Harry Potter and Archie Black might be fugitives, but Harry has not forgotten the Life Debts she's owed.Tom Riddle is not happy with the way she's chosen to extinguish those Life Debts, nor is he happy with the failure of the Auror Force to find the fugitives.
Series: SOW Party Memoranda and related documents (Rigel Black Chronicles) [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1954477
Comments: 11
Kudos: 96
Collections: Rigel Black Chronicles Appreciation





	Wizengamot Briefing WB1995-349-223-529.1

**Author's Note:**

> This will only make sense to fans of murkybluematter's Pureblood Pretense, Serpentine Subterfuge, Ambiguous Artifice and the Futile Facade, as it relates to key plot points in the Futile Facade, namely Riddle's Arithmancy Algorithm to match Pureblood Heirs to optimum candidates.
> 
> If you haven't read these works, you've missed something significant in the world of Harry Potter FanFiction, so what are you waiting for? Read them!
> 
> This is the 5th work in a series - it will make much more sense if you read the earlier ones first.

##  **Wizengamot Briefing WB1995-349-223-529.1**

_Protected by the Wizarding-Legal-Professional-Privilege Charm and the For-Your-Eyes-Only Charm_

**To** : Lord Riddle, Leader of the SOW Party

 **From** : Wizard Law Lord Makepeace Frobisher, Manager of Wizengamot Business 

**Date** : 3 August 1995

 **Issue** : Petition to the Wizengamot for the retrospective amendment to the Blood Identity Theft laws

* * *

####  **Key findings**

  * There is sufficient support in the Wizengamot to enable the retrospective amendment of the current Blood Identity Theft laws.
  * Proponents of the amendments have advised that they will be introducing amending legislation in the next Wizengamot session.



####  **Background**

Since October 1981 **_blood identity theft_ ** has been considered to be one of the most heinous crimes a wizard or witch can commit. Alongside murder, torture and rape it is one of the few wizarding offences punishable by imprisonment in Azkaban or the Dementors Kiss.

* * *

####  **Current Position**

A petition to the Honorable members of the Wizengamot has been received (attached). The petition requests that section **198BA** of the _Magical Crimes Act 1349_ be amended.

Section **198BA** of the _Magical Crimes Act 1349_ (last amended in 1981) currently provides that:

1\. A person who is not of pure magical blood who knowingly impersonates a **_pureblood magical person_ ** is guilty of the felonious crime of **_blood identity theft_ **.

2\. A **_pureblood magical person_ ** is a person who has four magical grandparents.

 **Maximum penalty** : 10 years in Azkaban or the Dementors Kiss.

3\. A person who is not of pure magical blood who aids or abets the felonious crime of blood identity theft is guilty of the felonious crime of **_blood identity theft abetting_ **. 

**Maximum penalty:** 1 year in Azkaban. 

The petition proposes that:

  * Blood identity theft and the related crime of blood identity theft abetting be reduced from being felonious crimes to being civil misdemeanour; and that
  * The maximum penalty be reduced to 3,000 Galleons for adults and 1,500 Galleons for minors; and that
  * The amendments commence retrospectively on 1 January 1991.



The petition has been signed by a majority of Wizengamot seat holders including Lords Tiberius Ogden, Lucius Malfoy, Cassius Parkinson, Albus Dumbledore, Sirius Black, James Potter and Ulrich Albright and Ladies Griselda Marchbanks and Augusta Longbottom.

* * *

####  **Comment**

Based on the signatures on the petition it appears that support for the proposed amendments crosses traditional divides and the requested amendments will garner support from in excess of three quarters of the Wizengamot, easily meeting the requirement for enactment. 

_Impact of proposed amendments_

While retrospective laws are usually frowned on for their negative impacts on the rights of individuals, the use of retrospectivity as proposed here largely has the opposite consequence. 

It should be noted that there have been no successful prosecutions for blood identity theft since these laws were enacted in October 1981, nor are there likely to be any. 

None of the adults involved in the recent Greengrass Incident met requisite criteria for blood identity theft. The Cresswell bastard was both unknowing and a minor. 

Similarly, a preliminary analysis suggests that the only possible offender against the blood identity theft laws in the Rigel Black Incident, Heiress Harriet Potter, would not be able to be successfully prosecuted. 

Heiress Potter is a minor and therefore cannot be charged with a capital offence, although perhaps she does not realise this given her current disappearance. 

It is therefore likely that the proposed amendments would have little, if any, impact on the actual enforcement of wizarding criminal law in Magical Britain. 

Instead, the amendments proposed would enable Heiress Potter to be fined a maximum of 1,500 Galleons. 

_Related matters_

It is understood that Lords Black and Potter have recently applied to the ICW for the Equality Accords to be expanded to include blood status as a possible ground of illegitimate unequal treatment. 

Should that application be successful, then a number of laws, including the blood identity theft laws, would need to be amended for Magical Britain to meet the requirements of the ICW. 

This is particularly so given the ICW’s adoption of “indirect discrimination” as unlawful. Measures that discriminate against witches and wizards not educated in Britain would become unlawful because those measures overwhelmingly affect non-Pureblood witches and wizards who are prohibited from attending British schools. 

It appears that Lords Black and Potter do not appreciate that neither Heir Black nor Heiress Potter can be convicted under existing blood identity theft laws. 

Perhaps there is room for negotiation with Lords Black and Potter. The ICW process is exhaustive, expensive, and far from guaranteed.

* * *

####  **Recommendation**

That the request to the Wizengamot Archives legal office to provide amending legislation in accordance with the terms of the petition be endorsed.

* * *

\- - - - - - -

“Elf!” growled Riddle.

He needed to get to the bottom of this, this, this latest fiasco right away. As much as his magic desperately wanted to destroy something (anything, everything), Riddle had to control himself. For now. 

“Yes your Lordship,” said the elf as it nervously popped into his office. “How can Libby help you today?” groveled the elf. 

“Get me Luciusss Malfoy. Immediately.” Riddle’s voice could have cut steel, his anger barely contained, Parseltongue leaking into his voice. 

“Of course, your Lordship,” the elf replied, wringing its hands as it popped away. 

After Riddle’s revelation of Potter and Black’s perfidy, and the complete and utter destruction of Riddle’s office, the elves had all been absolutely terrified of Riddle. Their overly cowed behaviour was starting to get a bit much, even for Riddle, although their response times _had_ improved. 

The elf popped back with a somewhat disgruntled Lucius Malfoy rapidly popping away once its task was complete.

As much as Lucius might deny it, Riddle knew that Lucius _liked_ the pomp and ceremony of Riddle’s receiving room with that ridiculous gaudy throne and the ample time to collect his thoughts and prepare his words that came with predetermined appointments. 

If Riddle was the type of person who felt sorry for other people when they were clearly out of their comfort zone, he might have felt sorry for Lucius, rudely plucked from whatever it was he was doing and magically dumped in Riddle’s office. 

Unfortunately for Lucius, Riddle wasn’t that type of person, and frankly he didn’t care two knuts for what Lucius had been doing before his master summoned him. 

Particularly when Riddle wanted answers immediately. Lucius was clearly involved in this latest contretemps and he hadn’t had the forethought or even the simple courtesy _to_ _tell his master!_

Riddle dispassionately handed Lucius the parchment containing the briefing as Malfoy sat on the rather uncomfortable seat in front of Riddle’s desk.

“Would you care to explain this, _Lord Malfoy_ ,” he asked, his voice dripping icicles and his magic dangerously swirling around the room. 

Lucius quickly read the briefing. 

“It’s the petition to amend the blood identity theft laws, my Lord,” Malfoy replied somewhat apologetically, trying to simultaneously marshal his thoughts and hide his unease at the unspoken power that was Riddle’s magic pervading the room and surrounding them both.

“I can see that!” snapped Riddle. “What I want to know is why _your name_ is on the petition as one of the primary proponents, and most importantly _why you didn’t tell me about this earlier_ , Lord Malfoy!”

And why you didn’t seek my permission, was unspoken between them. 

“My Lord,” stuttered Malfoy weakly in the face of Riddle’s angry magic. 

“I wanted to. But I couldn’t.”

Riddle was non-believing. 

“Really?!?” he said incredulously, his magic thrumming angrily.

“And just what was it that kept you from telling me? Have you forgotten all that I have done for you?” He hissed, not yet descending into Parseltongue, but the promise was there. 

“I, I … couldn’t, my Lord,” Malfoy squawked, far from his usual calm and unruffled self. 

“It was the Life Debt. Rigel - Harriet - swore me to secrecy as part of the conditions for meeting the Life Debt I owed. Believe me, _I had no choice_.” 

Mention of the Life Debt reminded Riddle of the circumstances that created it, of the first time that damnable brat interfered in his plans. 

Without conscious thought the series of vases on the bookshelf opposite Riddle’s desk exploded in rapid , staccato succession. Malfoy startled. Already somewhat rattled, he was not being very successful at hiding his emotions today. 

Riddle would have laughed if he hadn’t been so thoroughly outraged at anything and everything to do with Rigel Black. His minions needed to remember their place and it wasn’t often that Malfoy, usually so cool, calm, and collected, was unnerved. 

But, as much as he would like to, Riddle couldn’t deny the strength of a Life Debt. He might have been pressured by circumstances into swearing a Life Debt to that abominable brat, (unlike Malfoy who Riddle thought offered the Life Debt all too readily), but Riddle had felt a Life Debt’s power. Plus he needed Malfoy’s assistance, and possibly even his counsel, if he was to revive his longer term strategies. 

“Perhapsss,” he drawled with a hiss, somewhat mollified but nevertheless unwilling to let Malfoy forget just _who_ \- and _what_ \- Riddle was. 

“Ssso,” he said, the hiss still present in his voice, “what do you propose happens next? What do you suggest is the best way forward for the Party? While we have yet to retrieve the recalcitrant Heiress and her accomplice, no thanks to the uselessness of the Auror Department, the prospect of being convicted for blood identity theft was the only hold we had over her. This, this, petition wipes that away! We will have nothing!”

“Perhaps Frobisher is wrong and the Wizengamot will not support the amendment-”

“Bah!” interrupted Riddle. “That’s hardly likely. And don’t treat me like an idiot. I can count, and I suspect Potter can too. She might be young, but she was a worthy member of Slytherin house.” 

Riddle grimaced, remembering his admonition to Rigel after the second task about the lesson in formulating agreements. Riddle knew she wouldn’t have called in the Life Debt if she wasn’t certain of what she wanted.

“Let me guess: the cost of extinguishing House Malfoy’s Life Debt was the _successful_ repeal of the blood identity theft capital penalty.”

“Well, yes,” stuttered Malfoy. “But she’ll still have to pay the fine.” His voice grew stronger. “And if what Frobisher’s saying is correct, that’s more of a penalty than she’d otherwise face.”

“Would 1,500 galleons be an insurmountable sum for you to pay?” Riddle asked coldly, ignoring the mistake they’d all made about minors not being able to be prosecuted for capital crimes. 

“Well, no,” admitted Malfoy. “But she’s on the run. Where will she get the money from?”

“Her _Book of Gold_ family is applying to the ICW for amendments to the Equality Accords. That’s an expensive, exhaustive process. They support her. She won’t be lacking in money. Besides,” and once again Riddle’s magic thrummed angrily throughout the room, “she just won 1,500 galleons in the Tournament!” 

Malfoy was silent. He had nothing more to say. Slowly the magic in the room subsided. The uncomfortable silence did not. 

“Leave me,” said Riddle suddenly, imperiously. “I will come up with a solution to this mess. But if you hear again from those brats, you must contact me immediately.” 

Or else, was the unspoken threat between them. 

“Of course my Lord,” Malfoy said with an overly low bow, before he rapidly left Riddle‘s office. 

A wave of Riddle’s hand cleared the mess and restored his office to its usual pristine state. If only it was as easy to fix the Rigel Black problem. 

Riddle reread Frobisher’s briefing. 

At least Law Lord Frobisher had the courage to make a recommendation, even if the content of his briefing was not what Riddle wanted to read. 

But he did have a possibly useful suggestion. Negotiations with the parents…

Whether Riddle liked it or not, Harriet Potter was important to the future of the wizarding world. The arithmancy algorithm showed that. And her performance in the tournament. Even this latest kerfuffle. She was brilliant. He just needed her on his side.

He was … beyond … anger at the whole Rigel Black affair. It was just … exhausting. And he could no longer afford any further distractions. 

Nor, although he did not want to admit it, could the Ministry’s budget afford the continuation of the hunt for Black and Potter for much longer. 

For the first fortnight after the fugitives had fled there had been no sightings of the pair. Nothing. Nada. Neither hide nor hair of the two had been seen anywhere. 

And then they were _everywhere_. Sightings were owled in from Ottery St Catchpole to the Orkneys, Wiltshire to Waterloo, Islington to Inchbrook, Hogsmeade to Halifax… Apparently Black and Potter had been seen across the breadth and width of Britain. 

The Aurors diligently followed up every owl, every report, every rumour. It was costing a fortune in overtime and portkeys. Unfortunately there were no sightings in the readily accessible Diagon or Lower Alleys. 

And then the overseas sightings started owling in. First Paris. Then Marseilles, Monaco and Cannes. (Dawlish’s memo seeking international portkeys and further funding had reminded both Riddle and the Minister that Potter was reportedly a French speaker). 

There was a flurry of owls from Egypt; Potter had apparently been seen in the Valley of the Kings. More funding was required for the Auror Force. More overtime, more international portkeys. 

Then the sightings moved to America. Black had been seen in Salem. Potter in New York. Miami. Chicago. Hollywood. Las Vegas. San Francisco. Niagara Falls. Honolulu. Bermuda. 

Aurors were being pulled out of retirement just to check out each sighting. The Auror Department’s budget required constant replenishment. The financial wizards in the Minister’s office were beside themselves. 

Something had to happen. The Aurors would not find the fugitive pair. This would encourage them home. And then he could begin work to get her on his side.

Lord Riddle laughed almost maniacally as he signed off on the briefing, endorsing the proposal for legislative change. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Tom Riddle might not be happy with the manhunt, but the Aurors getting extra overtime and effectively paid overseas vacations might have a different view.
> 
> BTW, the numbering system is still not random. 😊


End file.
